Official what Oolong are You Drinking Right Now?

[Puk]

Today I sample Taiwan Tea Craft's Dongfangmeiren (#342). I always wondered what people were talking about when they mentioned apricots and cinnamon in their DFMR, but now I know. There's only the barest hint of honey tones in this one, and no mouth tingle. Beautifully smooth tho.

[Math]

rougui.jpg

Love the batavia cup wert!

[kyarazen]

this week there is a massive Chaozhou festival organized by the Poit Ip Teo Chew Clan association.

although the event is a nice effort, it could have been even better if some of the stuff was more original.. i.e. two chaozhou "master potters" telling me that yixing zisha can be wheel spun and that there are at least 2000 people in jiangsu doing it. there are two possibilities, one, being that yixing clay is now blended to be more suitable for this application, or two, the "master potters" are not telling something accurate.

pu-erh tea was also spotted on sale at the event.. nothing very chaozhou about that. just beside the vendor selling pu-erh tea was a merchant that came from swatow where my ancestral lineage comes from. was very glad to speak in chaozhou dialect to them and i bought two of their teas, a heavy roasted wu dong mi lan xiang dancong, and a heavy roasted tie guan yin. both traditionally manufactured and charcoal roasted. having them now...

not too bad for the price!

[Tead Off]

this week there is a massive Chaozhou festival organized by the Poit Ip Teo Chew Clan association.

although the event is a nice effort, it could have been even better if some of the stuff was more original.. i.e. two chaozhou "master potters" telling me that yixing zisha can be wheel spun and that there are at least 2000 people in jiangsu doing it. there are two possibilities, one, being that yixing clay is now blended to be more suitable for this application, or two, the "master potters" are not telling something accurate.

I believe that Gingko, the tea seller lass, mentioned something along these lines some time ago. It's certainly not 'traditional', but why shouldn't they produce wheel thrown teapots? I remember when Dylan went electric. So many pissed off people talking shite about him. These humans.

[kyarazen]

I believe that Gingko, the tea seller lass, mentioned something along these lines some time ago. It's certainly not 'traditional', but why shouldn't they produce wheel thrown teapots? I remember when Dylan went electric. So many pissed off people talking shite about him. These humans.

there is nothing wrong with producing wheel thrown tea pots. i personally put traditional chaozhou wheel thrown pots at the same usage level as traditional yixing pots.

like you have said here, "it's certainly not "traditional""
but it is a large event attempting to help people understand "chao zhou tradition" and "origins", so you should get my point on this.

thats a pretty interesting nick name for someone, the "tea seller lass".

[chrl42]

this week there is a massive Chaozhou festival organized by the Poit Ip Teo Chew Clan association.

although the event is a nice effort, it could have been even better if some of the stuff was more original.. i.e. two chaozhou "master potters" telling me that yixing zisha can be wheel spun and that there are at least 2000 people in jiangsu doing it. there are two possibilities, one, being that yixing clay is now blended to be more suitable for this application, or two, the "master potters" are not telling something accurate.

I believe that Gingko, the tea seller lass, mentioned something along these lines some time ago. It's certainly not 'traditional', but why shouldn't they produce wheel thrown teapots? I remember when Dylan went electric. So many pissed off people talking shite about him. These humans.

That rumour has been tossed around for quite a while..

The most famous wheel-throwing Yixing potter must be Wang Jin-chuan..later found to be he adds little kaolinite into it...other people I met also told me Yixing clay can be wheel-thrown..

while I am not a potter, I should step back a topic like this...what I am wondering is,

What they call Yixing clay is, Mt.Huanglong clay or not...there are many Yixing clays not coming from Mt.Huanglong

'Yixing clay not available to be thrown on a wheel' is quite a traditional notion....'Yixing clay is available on the wheel' yet starts coming out quite recently....and how easy is it to obtain Mt.Huanglong or Zhaozhuang clay these days? It might be just fun to know the truth

[j.p.rich]

Had a wonderful session today with EoT's 2013 Bu Zhi Chun, my first experience with this Yancha varietal. Love the up-front flavor profile and the activity along the roof of the mouth. A new favorite.

[Tead Off]

this week there is a massive Chaozhou festival organized by the Poit Ip Teo Chew Clan association.

although the event is a nice effort, it could have been even better if some of the stuff was more original.. i.e. two chaozhou "master potters" telling me that yixing zisha can be wheel spun and that there are at least 2000 people in jiangsu doing it. there are two possibilities, one, being that yixing clay is now blended to be more suitable for this application, or two, the "master potters" are not telling something accurate.

I believe that Gingko, the tea seller lass, mentioned something along these lines some time ago. It's certainly not 'traditional', but why shouldn't they produce wheel thrown teapots? I remember when Dylan went electric. So many pissed off people talking shite about him. These humans.

That rumour has been tossed around for quite a while..

The most famous wheel-throwing Yixing potter must be Wang Jin-chuan..later found to be he adds little kaolinite into it...other people I met also told me Yixing clay can be wheel-thrown..

while I am not a potter, I should step back a topic like this...what I am wondering is,

What they call Yixing clay is, Mt.Huanglong clay or not...there are many Yixing clays not coming from Mt.Huanglong

'Yixing clay not available to be thrown on a wheel' is quite a traditional notion....'Yixing clay is available on the wheel' yet starts coming out quite recently....and how easy is it to obtain Mt.Huanglong or Zhaozhuang clay these days? It might be just fun to know the truth

Zhaozhuang clay is being used by several workshops. You can find info on this if you google. I would think you can process most clays to the point where they can be thrown on a wheel.

I have often thought about the difference between Chao Zhou clay and Yixing clay. I don't think I can tell if a tea is brewed in one or the other. I've tried experiments with Taiwanese green oolongs. My best pot may be a Chao Zhou thin walled zhuni.

[kyarazen]

Zhaozhuang clay is being used by several workshops. You can find info on this if you google. I would think you can process most clays to the point where they can be thrown on a wheel.

I have often thought about the difference between Chao Zhou clay and Yixing clay. I don't think I can tell if a tea is brewed in one or the other. I've tried experiments with Taiwanese green oolongs. My best pot may be a Chao Zhou thin walled zhuni.

so what are your thoughts on yixing wares after thirty years of using them?

[chrl42]

this week there is a massive Chaozhou festival organized by the Poit Ip Teo Chew Clan association.

although the event is a nice effort, it could have been even better if some of the stuff was more original.. i.e. two chaozhou "master potters" telling me that yixing zisha can be wheel spun and that there are at least 2000 people in jiangsu doing it. there are two possibilities, one, being that yixing clay is now blended to be more suitable for this application, or two, the "master potters" are not telling something accurate.

I believe that Gingko, the tea seller lass, mentioned something along these lines some time ago. It's certainly not 'traditional', but why shouldn't they produce wheel thrown teapots? I remember when Dylan went electric. So many pissed off people talking shite about him. These humans.

That rumour has been tossed around for quite a while..

The most famous wheel-throwing Yixing potter must be Wang Jin-chuan..later found to be he adds little kaolinite into it...other people I met also told me Yixing clay can be wheel-thrown..

while I am not a potter, I should step back a topic like this...what I am wondering is,

What they call Yixing clay is, Mt.Huanglong clay or not...there are many Yixing clays not coming from Mt.Huanglong

'Yixing clay not available to be thrown on a wheel' is quite a traditional notion....'Yixing clay is available on the wheel' yet starts coming out quite recently....and how easy is it to obtain Mt.Huanglong or Zhaozhuang clay these days? It might be just fun to know the truth

Zhaozhuang clay is being used by several workshops. You can find info on this if you google. I would think you can process most clays to the point where they can be thrown on a wheel.

I have often thought about the difference between Chao Zhou clay and Yixing clay. I don't think I can tell if a tea is brewed in one or the other. I've tried experiments with Taiwanese green oolongs. My best pot may be a Chao Zhou thin walled zhuni.

Only if they are real ones lol

Zhaozhuang clay had two major mines, one became a pond now and the other source was depleted during the ROC.

There are many legendary Zhuni out there, but if they want to call, let them call it. Truth is Zhuni doesn't require to be stored, Zhuni clay has outstanding plasticity as a natural clay. Long-stored Zhuni tends to be fired better but I've noticed they tend to lose colors,

personally I don't believe any source that claims to be Zhaozhuang one (nearby mines maybe) except Lao Xu maybe

[kyarazen]

shi huang zhuni dissolves in water.. many other mine's zhuni doesnt.
oops. getting off topic.

going back on topic, tonight i'm having a 2011 heavy roasted dancong (shui xian breed) in a flat CR era pot. prior to brewing a quick re-baking appears to have helped smoothen the tea.

[bonescwa]

shi huang zhuni dissolves in water.. many other mine's zhuni doesnt.
oops. getting off topic.

going back on topic, tonight i'm having a 2011 heavy roasted dancong (shui xian breed) in a flat CR era pot. prior to brewing a quick re-baking appears to have helped smoothen the tea.

How do you rebake it? I know it's been discussed many times before but I trust your opinion and I'm curious about how you do it

[BW85]

Ti luo Han from MTR. Eight grams in a 60ml hong pi long shuiping, brewed quite strong. Nice and thick with plenty of mineral goodness. Left feeling relaxed yet alert

[kyarazen]

How do you rebake it? I know it's been discussed many times before but I trust your opinion and I'm curious about how you do it

dont trust my opinion, instead you should experiment on it and see if you like the results

the paper baking method that people do show with "dancong" sometime is "shao-an" style

chaozhou style the tea is "baked" in the pot used for brewing, which is why the "standard" pot needs to have a good lid fit (once the hole on the lid is closed by the finger, water doesnt seep in when hot water is doused on the pot)

the modern "rebaking" that some of us talk about has its roots in Lv Yu's Cha Jing. the aim of re-baking since then, was just to remove the surface oxidations (which can be sour, acrid, undesirable damp notes), to refocus the aromatics and to remove the damp/cold qi picked up by the tea leaves over time since tea leaves are quite absorptive. you can find some more info here : http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 95#p267353

不起 凡炙茶，慎勿于风烬间炙，熛焰如钻，使凉炎不均。特以逼火，屡其翻正，候炮出培塿状蟆背，然后去火五寸。卷而舒，则本其始，又炙之。若火干者，以气熟止；日干者，以柔止。 其始，若茶之至嫩者，蒸罢热捣，叶烂而芽笋存焉。假以力者，持千钧杵亦不之烂，如漆科珠，壮士接之，不能驻其指。及就，则似无穰骨也。炙之，则其节若倪倪如婴儿之臂耳。既而，承热用纸囊贮之，精华之气无所散越，候寒末之。

from chapter 6 of Lv Yu Cha Jing, which roughly translates as

when re-baking tea, the fire must be stable in a windless place, else the rebaking will not be even. for his application in tang/song dynasty tea brick treatment, he bakes till the texture of the compressed tea has little raised spots on the surface. after the compressed tea is pried apart it is re-roasted by the same method. if the tea was formerly dried by fire, it should be rebaked till it emits some hot "qi" as optimum, if its sun dried tea, it should be rebaked till soft. best to be done with charcoal. once baked the tea should be quickly transferred to a paper wrapping to prevent the essence from dissipating and for it to absorb "cold/han" qi again.

re-baking is then applied to remove the undesirable notes from storage or processing/manufacture, and optimize everything to a condition that you like, or that you are willing to serve to others.

no mysticism, no rocket science. if you can toast a marshmallow, you should be pretty ok with toasting tea if you master the leaf flipping methods and the height above the fire/coal.

[drinking_teas]

How do you rebake it? I know it's been discussed many times before but I trust your opinion and I'm curious about how you do it

dont trust my opinion, instead you should experiment on it and see if you like the results

the paper baking method that people do show with "dancong" sometime is "shao-an" style

chaozhou style the tea is "baked" in the pot used for brewing, which is why the "standard" pot needs to have a good lid fit (once the hole on the lid is closed by the finger, water doesnt seep in when hot water is doused on the pot)

the modern "rebaking" that some of us talk about has its roots in Lv Yu's Cha Jing. the aim of re-baking since then, was just to remove the surface oxidations (which can be sour, acrid, undesirable damp notes), to refocus the aromatics and to remove the damp/cold qi picked up by the tea leaves over time since tea leaves are quite absorptive. you can find some more info here : http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 95#p267353

不起 凡炙茶，慎勿于风烬间炙，熛焰如钻，使凉炎不均。特以逼火，屡其翻正，候炮出培塿状蟆背，然后去火五寸。卷而舒，则本其始，又炙之。若火干者，以气熟止；日干者，以柔止。 其始，若茶之至嫩者，蒸罢热捣，叶烂而芽笋存焉。假以力者，持千钧杵亦不之烂，如漆科珠，壮士接之，不能驻其指。及就，则似无穰骨也。炙之，则其节若倪倪如婴儿之臂耳。既而，承热用纸囊贮之，精华之气无所散越，候寒末之。

from chapter 6 of Lv Yu Cha Jing, which roughly translates as

when re-baking tea, the fire must be stable in a windless place, else the rebaking will not be even. for his application in tang/song dynasty tea brick treatment, he bakes till the texture of the compressed tea has little raised spots on the surface. after the compressed tea is pried apart it is re-roasted by the same method. if the tea was formerly dried by fire, it should be rebaked till it emits some hot "qi" as optimum, if its sun dried tea, it should be rebaked till soft. best to be done with charcoal. once baked the tea should be quickly transferred to a paper wrapping to prevent the essence from dissipating and for it to absorb "cold/han" qi again.

re-baking is then applied to remove the undesirable notes from storage or processing/manufacture, and optimize everything to a condition that you like, or that you are willing to serve to others.

no mysticism, no rocket science. if you can toast a marshmallow, you should be pretty ok with toasting tea if you master the leaf flipping methods and the height above the fire/coal.

pictures and blog post about this: http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2008/ ... -fire.html